Buzz Aldrin's Apollo 11 Suit

Photographed at the National Air and Space Museum's Garber Facilityon 29 September 2005by Ken Glover and Amanda Youngand on 10 - 11 April 2006by Ulli Lotzmann, Amanda Young, and Bill Ayrey.
Last revised 23 July 2007.

A detail from AS11-40-5964,which is the last picture Neil took of Buzz before the end of the EVA.

Neck Ring

View from the side of the circumferential channel at the bottom on the helmet that engages the locking pins in the suit portion of the neck ring. See, also, Figure 1-15 from Vol. 1 of the Apollo 14 EMU Handbook. The blue and green areas above the ring are parts of the back of the head pad.

One a set of pins - called 'locking dogs', says Bill Ayrey - that seat in a circumferential channel in the Helmet Neck Ring. The locking dogs are spring-loaded and, with a bevel on the tip, slide out of the way as the helmet in lowered into place and, once it is seated, snap out into the channel.

Bottom view showing the inside of the neck cover. The front of the LEVA is up. The neck cover closure is at a clock position of about 10:30. The LEVA latch is at 12:00, just to the left of Amanda's hand.

The various connectors are indentified in a diagram provided by Karl Dodenhoff. The pattern of Velcro strips and snaps surrounding the connector cluster provided for installation of what seems to have been called an "umbilical cover". There is considerable evidence that the Apollo 11-14 LM crew members' suits all had a similar pattern of Velcro and snaps but, as of June 2007, we have been unable to locate any indication - in photos, checklists, and EMU handbooks - of an umbilical cover having been flown. Karl Dodenhoff has provided a photograph, but doesn't remember where he found it.

Amanda has removed the connector plug. Note the circumferential channel about halfway down the plug. Like the channel on the helmet side of the neck ring, locking dogs engage with the channel during insertion of either the plug or corresponding PLSS hose.

The zipper on the AL7 suit ran from the nexk ring, down the back, thru the legs and fully closed over the pubic region. The red purge valve fitting is at the upper left in the photo (Buzz's right) and the red O2/CO2 outflow valve is at the upper right in the photo (Buzz's left).

The zipper cover is shown here folded back to Buzz's right. The zipper is open with the closing lanyards just below the neck ring. The cover is held closed by a combination of Velcro strips and snap buttons. The ILC tag is on the inside of the cover.

The dark patch to the right of the zipper is made of Chromel-R, a woven steel fabric include the prevent suit damage by motions of the PLSS, A similar patch joins up from the left once the zipper cover is closed.

This patch on the back of the suit was made of Chromel-R, a stainless steel mesh, and was designed to minimize wear from the PLSS bouncing around on the astronaut's back. A discussion of Chromel-R can be found at Karl Dodenhoff's My Little Space Museum.